Signing Day 2014: SEC recruiting analysis

Alabama: The Crimson Tide might have lost their last two games of the season, but coach Nick Saban won big again on the recruiting trail. Alabama has six prospects Rivals.com considers five-star recruits and once again locked down the consensus top class in the nation.

Kentucky: Mark Stoops went 2-10 in his first season, but he did a miraculous job in recruiting. Kentucky finished with a class Rivals and ESPN both rank in the nation’s top 20. That’s an astonishing accomplishment. The Wildcats landed 10 recruits Rivals lists as four-star prospects.

Tennessee: Butch Jones dramatically reshaped Tennessee’s roster, signing well over 30 players. The Volunteers have a top-five class, considered by most to be the best in the SEC East. Tennessee went 5-7 last season in Jones’ first year, but should be on its way back with this nucleus.

THREE LOSERS

Missouri: The Tigers didn’t capitalize on the success of a 12-2 season or their still new membership in the SEC. Missouri’s class is not considered among the SEC’s top 10 hauls. It will be hard for the SEC East champs to remain a contender for the league title if better classes aren’t brought in to Columbia.

South Carolina: Steve Spurrier won 11 games again at South Carolina, but the momentum didn’t carry over to the recruiting trail. The Gamecocks don’t have a class analysts believe to be among the nation’s 15 best. That puts South Carolina in the back half of the SEC.

Vanderbilt: Poor Vandy. The Commodores had a splendid class shaping up before James Franklin took the Penn State job. Then Franklin, and many other schools, began poaching Vanderbilt’s class. The end result is a group ranked 50th by Rivals. That's nine spots back of the 13th-best SEC class (Mississippi State).

FIVE IMPACT PLAYERS

DE Da’Shawn Hand, Alabama, 6-4, 260, Woodbridge (Va.)

Rivals.com ranks Hand as the nation’s top prospect, a designation he held throughout the entire recruiting cycle. He’ll instantly upgrade Alabama’s pass rush.

RB Leonard Fournette, LSU, 6-1, 225, New Orleans

Fournette is considered the top player in the country by ESPN’s experts. He’s considered the most physically ready back entering college since Adrian Peterson.

DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M, 6-4, 245, Arlington (Texas)

Rivals ranks Garrett as the second-best prospect in the nation. He’s an instant starter for an Aggies defense that gave up over 32 points a game last season.

CB Jalen Tabor, Florida, 6-1, 186, Washington (D.C.)

The Gators lost two cornerbacks early to the NFL Draft in Marcus Roberson and Loucheiz Purifoy. Tabor is considered the 10th-best prospect in the nation by Rivals and should compete for a starting job immediately.

RB Sony Michel, Georgia, 5-11, 205, Plantation American Heritage

Rivals considers Michel the 13th-best recruit in the country. With Keith Marshall recovering from a serious knee injury, Georgia could need Michel to get up to speed quickly.